I like this Thomas Moore quote:
“The soul is a community of many interior persons, many of them capable leaders. The ego is only one among them and probably should not always run the show… The secret of a soul-based life is to allow someone or something other than the usual self to be in charge.”
– Original Self: living with Paradox and Originality
Our interior lives are a mixed bag. Thomas Moore writes, “The soul is a community of many interior persons, many of them capable leaders. The ego is only one among them and probably should not always run the show. The ego represents the motivations of our personality type, a voice which has both a dark side and a basic longing to do what is right. So those of us who are by nature perfectionists have an evil critical voice in our heads, as well as a reforming spirit that desires to realign the world to God’s justice and righteousness. Those who are success oriented find it easy to be deceitful for the good of the cause. Their ego also can lead them towards hard work and the constant desire to be the best at something. We need to understand both our ego and its limitations. Sometimes a more peaceful voice (dare I say, Zen voice?) needs to guide our interior life.
It hits me that this is a religious way of talking about mental health. Every Christian needs to resist the urge to go it alone. This may mean entering therapy or making a covenant to meet weekly with another person or group for the sake of spiritual formation. Our ego will lead us away from mental (and soulful) health if it is allowed to be the only one in the driver’s seat of our lives. Spiritual formation is a therapeutic process, best done in community.